From the Golden Apple Foundation of Rockford: “Joshua reinvented the summer reading program, led the PBIS initiatives, brought the use of the Membean vocabulary program and participation in National Novel Writing Month to his school.”

From the nominators: “He creates an environment that fosters a sense of wonder in his kids about all kinds of topics and pursuits. Creating a thinking curriculum is nothing new to Josh since he had elevated his instructional content long before the Common Core was introduced. ... Without a doubt, I would assign some of our most challenging fifth-graders to Josh because I knew that they would thrive with the challenges he would bring to them, and they would be motivated like never before.

“He is always willing to drop what he is doing to help a colleague out and will kindly challenge the status quo if he sees practices that do not benefit students. His room is an open place for students to go during recess to work on projects, get help or use the computers.”